Steam-engine.



*No. 695,006. Patented Mar. H, I902.

B. F. STOWELL.

STEAM ENGINE.

(Application filed Apr. 2, 1901.1

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, No. 695,006. Patented Mar. ll, I902.

' B. F. STOWELL.

STEAM ENGINE.

- (Application filed Apr. 2. 1901.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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Patanted'Mar. H, I902.- B. F. STUWELL. STEAM ENGINE (Application filed Apr. 2, 1901 y 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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inc. 695,006.. Patanted Mar. :1, I902.

' B. F. STOWELL.

STEAM ENGINE.

{Application Med Apr. 2, 1901.) (lo Model.) 4 Shasta-Sheet 4.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BYRON F. STOWELL, OF'SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 695,006, dated March 1 1 1902.

Application filed April 2, 1901. Serial No. 641,061. (No modeLl steam-engines of the class or type which com prises a cylindrically-chambered casing having concentrically mounted therein an oscillatory body or shaft provided with a radial piston extending outwardly to the wall of the cylindrical chamber, such chamber having a fixed partition or wall extending to said shaft and provided with steam inlet and outlet passages, a valve, and a medium of connection between the said oscillatory body and the driving or power shaft of the engine, whereby the oscillatory motion of the piston may impart a continuous rotary motion to said driving or power shaft.

The principal object of this invention is to provide, in combination with the shaft or arbor on which the oscillatory piston is carried and with the power or driving shaft of the engine, improved and novel means of driving connection which is of a very simple and dorable character and by means of whiclrfrom the rotary reciprocatory motion of the pistonshaft a continuous rotary motion to the drivin g-shaft will be imparted with certainty and I with ease and steadiness of running motion.

Another object of the invention is to com blue in the mounting for a part of the novel and improved mechanism of driving connection aforementioned means or provisions for taking up wear in the parts as occasion may require after protracted running of the engine.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in combination with the end portion of the shaft of the concentric oscillatory piston, which is extended to the exterior of the cylinder or chambered body of the engine, and with the elements of driving connection therewith provided and coactin g, a special arrangement of supplemental journal-support for the extremity of the piston-shaft.

Other objects are lac-construct the engine of the type hereinabove mentioned with reference to the packings between the internal fixed and the moving parts in order to acquire increased economy and efficiency.

To these'ends the invention consists in the combinations of parts hereinafter described, and set forth in the claims, and in certain particular constructions and combinations or arrangements thereof, as also hereinafter defined and claimed.

The improved engine'is fully and clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end elevation. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the upper portion thereof broken out and shown in vertical sectional view. Fig. 3 is a central vertical cross-sectionalview of the engine. Fig. i is a partial central section taken through the engine at right angles to the section, Fig. 3, this View being shown with the piston understood as having been turned to its lowermost position and is provided especially for the purpose of illustrating the packings. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the packing for the longitudinal edge and vertical end of the piston. Fig. 6 is a sectional view as seen taken about on the line 6 6, Fig. 4, with some parts broken away inwardly beyond such plane of section for increased clearness of illustration.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout all of the views.

In the drawings, a represents the body or casing of the engine, comprising the chamber 1) of approximately cylindrical form, the easing being provided with the upwardly-extended portion 0, having within its top the recess constituting the steam-chest chamber (1, covered by the cap or top plate a. the base of said upper extension 0, the top of which is flat, downwardly and divergently lead the passages ff, Fig. 3, which alternately in the operation of the engine become the steam and exhaust ports, such passages leading from the steam-chest to opposite upper portions of the pressure-chamber b at either side of the depending immovable wall g, which is formed as a part of or affixed to the engine-casing. This said portion g constitutes a partition in the nearly-annular pressure-chamber, which is indicated at Z as comprised between said partition and the pistonwing and between the internal surface of the chambered casing o. and the central portion From j of the piston-shaft, and the said pressurechamber becomes elongated as the pistonwing moves around away from the said wall or partition g.

In the operation of the engine the one passage f is the inlet-passage and the opposite one the exhaust-passage, and then when the piston has its reversed sweep that passage which was previously the exhaust-passage becomes the inlet and the other one the exhaust, these alternations being repeated constantly and in quick succession during the running, as well known in this description of engine.

It is the valve, which is advantageously the ordinary D form of slide-valve, the stem m thereof extendingthrough a stufling-box in the side of the steam-chest wall and has its end wise reciprocatory motion imparted thereto by the connection therewith of an angularly-turned end member at of the slide-bar o, to which the back-and-forth motion is imparted by the connection therewith of one arm of the bell-crank lever 12, to the other arm of which is connected the arm q, formed as a part of the strap or yoke encircling the eccentric 7, which is on the driving or power shaft sof the engine. The said driving-shaft is supported in the suitably-long journalbearing 25, which is cast as a part of and depends below the base u of the engine and is reinforced by integrally-cast webs for great stability.

10 indicates the steam inlet or supply pipe, and 0: indicates the exhaust-pipe.

The steam in the pressure chamber or cylinder L at the end of the stroke and after the slide-valve has moved sufficiently to open the port y to communication with that passage f which had on the terminated working stroke been the inlet-port has free way for exhaust from the cylinder through the same passages fwhich had been the inlet and through port y to the longitudinal passage .2, with which the exhaust-pipe is connected.

The organization of so much of the engine for the general mode of operation which has been thus far described whereby the rotary reciprooatory motions to the piston-shaft are imparted comprises no novelty so far as this application is concerned, and I will now proceed to describe constructions and arrangements which contribute to the production of the present invention.

The piston-shaft 71: has a concentrically spur-toothed elementa pinion or a sectorv gear 9, shown as having the teeth thereof exed to oscillate on the shaft or stud 12, which is extended parallel with the piston-shaft and is held in an immovable position in its sup-.

port through the bracket or lug 13, which, as shown, is cast as an integral extension of the motor body or casing. Said sector 10 is in mesh with the toothed wheel 9 and has an oscillation or rocking reciprocatory motion derived from the similar motion of the said wheel 9. The pitman-rod 14 is pivotally connected at 15 with the sector 10 at a point suitably extended radially from the center of motion 12 of the sector, and its other end is pivotally. connected at 15 with the fixture 16 of the driving-shaft s, which fixture is here shown as a crank, although the same might be a disk or .pulley attached to the drivingshaft for the same effective crank action. The rotary reciprocatory motion of the pistonshaft imparted by the back-and-forth sweepings of the piston-wing through the connec tions described imparts a continuous easy and steady rotary motion to the driving or power shaft.

It will be mentioned in appreciation of the desirability and advantage of the sector 10, combined with the parts in cooperative relations, as described, that it is most simply and cheaply produced and is an element which in the performance of itswork is not susceptible of extensive wear. It obviates the employment of slides having a rack-bar and crossheads,which necessitate planing and other expensive machine work and fittings and avoids in the operation of the engine racking efiects and noisy running.

The stud or shaft on which the sector is mounted has its end journal or cylindrical supporting portion 17 slightly eccentric relatively to the axis of the portion of the stud 12 which is fitted through the cylindrical socket therefor in the bracket 13. The said sector-supporting stud 12 has at its end portion the spanner-holes 18, whereby when the set-screw 19 is loosened to turn said stud, and thereby to slightly change the position of the sector bodily, so that wear between the teeth of the sector 10 and of the toothed wheel 9 will be compensated for. This provisionmaterially adds to the working life of the parts in the engine between which there is the greatest wear, and even these parts 9 and 10 may be cheaply and quickly replaced after long use of the engine when the replacement thereof is rendered desirable or necessary.

The piston-shaft 7c is extended outwardly beyond the outer face of the toothed wheel 9 and has provided therefor an additional journal-bearing support 11, the same comprising the journal-hub and the arms 21 21, extending in different radial directions therefrom and suitably offset to straddle over the pinion 9 and having by their extremities connections by screwing or bolting to the end or head of the engine-body. This provides a stable support for the extremity of the shaft 7c and prevents deflection thereof and prevents any tendency of the pinion to run otherwise than perfectly true and even, and the arrangement shown of this additional jour- ICC nal and its connected arms is such as in no.v

wise .to interfere with or obstruct the meshing relations of the parts 9 and 10.

The packings employed in the engine conducing to the employment of the steam with great economy are illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6.- The lower end of the depending partition or abutment g has a longitudinal groove 20 is arranged to correspond to the three sides of a rectangle, the same being composed of separable L-shaped members 26 26, matched or halved together, as indicated at 27, Figs. 4 and 5, and adapted for longitudinal distention.

enlargement 5' have formed therewithin the concentric annular grooves or sockets 28, in which are placed the packing-rings '29 29, against which react the springs 30 to crowd the packing-rings outwardly inthe direction of their axes for a close bearing against the portions of the heads of the engine-case adjacent the journal-bearings of the pistonshaft.

Each packing-ring 29 has within its outer edge a squared socket or-recess 32, in which the inner extremities of the radial members 26 26 of the L-shaped packing are engaged and by means of which engagement the packing-rings turn in unison with the piston-shaft and piston and with the packing-bars for the piston.

The piston has within its opposite ends the sockets 33 for the springs 34 and within'its outer radially-extended edge the sockets for the springs 35, the two setsv of springs operating to crowd the packing, so that the pistonwing has the blades thereof both at its longitudinal and its radial end edges in close hearing againstthe inner peripheral surface of the engine-casing. V p

I have combined with the eccentric and the valve mechanism of this engine the ordinary a manifest provision.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

1. In a steam-engine, in combination, the en gine-bod y having the approximately cylind rical pressure-chamber, the axially-arran ged The ends of the intermediate piston-shaft.

rotatable-bod y comprised as an intermediate portion of a shaft, provided with the radial piston, the fixed'partition extending from the periphery of the cylinder-chamber to contact on the 'said'rotatable body,steam-passages leading into the steam-chamber at opposite "sides of-the fixed wall, means'for alternately opening and closing said passages whereby the radialpiston is caused'to have an oscillatory movement partially around'withi'n said chamber, an element having a series of concentric teeth. affixed to the externally-extended end'of said'shaft, a driving-shaft, a

sector-gear pivotally mounted and meshing said toothed element of the piston-shafh-a crank on the -drivingshaft, and a pitmanrodpivotally connected to" the sector, and to the crank, substantially-as described.

2. In a steamfengi-ne, in' combination, the engine body having the approximately cylindricalpressure-chamber, the axially-arranged rotatable body comprised as an intermediate portion of the-shaft, provided with the radial piston, the fixed partition extending from the periphery of the cylinder-chamber to contacton the said rotatable body, steam-passages leading into the steam-chamber at opposite sides of the fixed wall, the slide-valve for alternately opening and closing said passages whereby the radial piston is caused to have an oscillatory movement around within said chamber, a spur-wheel affixed to the externally-extended end of said shaft, a drivingshaft having a crank and an eccentric, a sec torgear, pivotally mounted, and meshing said spur-wheel, the pitman-rod connecting the sector and the crank, the bell-crank le -ver, the arm connected to the eccentric, and

said bell-crank and the slide-bar engaged by the bell-crank lever and engaging the stem of H the slide-valve.

3. In an engine of the character described, the combination with the shaft having the radial piston and the toothed wheel 9 and the driving-shaft having the crank, of the cylindrical stud and a corresponding cylindrical supporting-bearing therefor axially parallel with the piston-shaft, said stud having its end constructed with the cylindrical portion eccentric to the portion thereof supported in the aforesaid bearing,the sector-gear having its cylindrically-apertured hub monnted'to oscillate on the said eccentric portion of the stud, provisions for rotationally adjusting said stud, and apitman rodpivotallyconnect ed to the sector-gear, and to said crank, sub- 'stantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In an engine of the character described,

the combination with the shaft having the radial piston and the toothed wheel 9, and the driving-shaft having the crank, of the cylin drical stud and provisions whereby it may be turned, and a corresponding cylindricalsup-- porting-bearing for said stud axially parallel with the piston-shaft, and'said stud having its endconstructed with the cylindrical portion eccentric to the portion thereof supported in the aforesaid bearing, the sector-gear having its cylindrically-apertured hub mounted to oscillate on the said eccentric portion of the stud, a set-screw for detachably confining said stud against turning, and a pitmanrod pivotally connected to the sector-gear and to said crank, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. A steamengine of the character described comprising an oscillatory piston and piston-shaft having externally of the enginecasing a concentrically-toothed element, and a driving or power shaft combined with a reciprocatory element having teeth in mesh with said toothed element of the piston-shaft and partaking of a reciprocatory motion therefrom, and a medium of connection between said reciprocating element and the drivingshaft for imparting the back-and-forth motions of the former a continuous rotary motion to the latter.

6. A steam engine of the character described, comprising an oscillatory piston and piston-shaft having externally of the enginecasing, a concentrically-toothed element, and a driving or power shaft, combined with a reciprooatory element having teeth in mesh with and deriving reciprocatory movement Massachusetts, this 30th day of 5 

